Raise your gloves
The rain fell in droves on a damp June afternoon, but the only sign of moisture inside Round 1 Boxing for Health was the sweat glistening on John Williams’ neck. The 29-year-old from Birmingham took up the sport six months ago and has since kicked a decade-old smoking habit. He realized after his third workout in January that it would be physically unsustainable.
“You can’t do both,” he said.
Instead of lighting a cigarette, Williams, on this particular day, was lighting up a pair of hand mitts worn by 16-year-old Reed Davis. A black beanie atop her head, Davis called out numbers that Williams responded to with a combination of punches.
“Four, five,” she barked, holding the mitts in front of her. Williams answered with two powerful uppercuts, first with his right hand and then with his left. He hoped to compete in his first fight later in the summer, and this taxing drill was intended to sharpen his punches.
Despite her age, Davis already has participated in fights. She started coming to the Hoover-based gym about four years ago, and gym owner Dave Godber calls her one of the toughest female boxers he’s coached. That’s quite a compliment considering his background.
Godber began boxing at age 8, became the Ontario, Canada, middleweight champ in his teens and fought for the All-Marine Corps team after he graduated from Auburn University. In 1994 he opened Round 1, located at 1580 Montgomery Highway, and has been the franchise owner of the Alabama Golden Gloves and Silver Gloves programs since 1998.
His competition days far behind him, Godber’s mission as a gym owner and coach is simple.
“We teach you how to fight,” he said in his gruff, Canadian accent. “You just determine your own comfort level in the ring.”
Godber trains 100 boxers — both male and female — between the ages of 10 and 61 at his facility. Forty of the 100 box competitively, while the other 60 endure much of the same training without testing themselves in a fight.
The physical benefits of boxing for fitness abound, according to James Henry, an Oak Mountain High School graduate who began boxing about five years ago at Round 1. He is now a junior at the University of Alabama and serves as vice president of the UA boxing club, which Godber advises as a volunteer coach.
“There is no better way to stay in shape than the sport of boxing,” said Henry. “There is no competitor when it comes to the amount of training you can do.”
As puddles formed in the parking lot outside, athletes at Round 1 divided their time in the gym among a variety of activities. Williams and Davis worked on drills and sparred. Idaly Otero, 15, jumped rope and completed push-ups. Four newcomers focused on footwork, shuffling in a counterclockwise direction around a row of punching bags suspended from the ceiling.
Deontay Wilder, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist from Tuscaloosa, appeared to be looking on. A massive banner promoting one of his past televised fights covers one wall, and smaller posters dot the gym.
Godber coached Wilder during his 2007 run to the Olympic Trials as a result of his investment in the Golden Gloves program. Godber’s role as franchise owner means that any Alabama amateur boxers with Olympic dreams — or hopes of earning an amateur ranking — must matriculate through Round 1 at some phase in their career. Wilder was no exception.
“The pinnacle of amateur boxing in this country is an Olympic champion, and we have done that,” Godber said of Wilder’s podium finish in 2008.
But ascending to the top of the world rankings isn’t Godber’s standard expectation for boxing novices. He said that the sport, though not for everybody, offers a positive channel for anyone looking to boost self-esteem or gain self-empowerment.
In Williams’ case, it even enabled him to kick an addiction.
“As a kid, I wish I had something like this,” Williams said. “Everyone helps each other out. Everyone talks to each other. It’s just a good place to be.”
To find out more information about Godber and his gym, visit www.round1goldengloves.com or call 907-1752.